Archive for December, 2012

Whether you love your life or hate it, both start from a faulty assumption: there is a “you” that has a life. There is simply life, which this “you” is not separate from. “You” are just as much an appearance as a rock or a car or the ocean or a thought or feeling or sensation. Everything appearing to nothing. Form appearing to formless. Stilllessness appearing to stillness. Movement appearing to nonmovement. And yet, this is still duality. Two ends of the same stick. What is neither movement nor nonmovement because it is outside of or beyond both opposites?

The first step to awakening: Admit that YOU DO NOT WANT TO AWAKEN!! (Father Anthony De Mello was the first person I ever heard say this, and the moment he said it something in me knew it was true.)

Realize that a part of you (mostly unconscious) enjoys the dream and is not ready to give it up. Even if consciously you say, “Yes Michael, I really want to awaken.” Bullshit. You are still identified with maya, and like a drug, are not ready to give it up. Like in AA, admitting that you are addicted to the dream world is the first step to recovery!

When I was discussing this with a friend of mine last night, about it all being a dream, at least he was honest when he said:

“I guess in some ways I still see it as a helpful ‘metaphor’ — not completely accepting it as the way it truly is. I can see it on many levels but probably not completely. I still want to go play tennis and go out on dates as though they’re ‘real’.”

He suspects this is all a dream, but because it pulls the rug out from underneath everything he has spent his life “working for/towards,” it’s just too much to fully accept right now.

Yet, we use phrases like, “It felt like a bad dream…” or, “I couldn’t wait for the nightmare to be over…” or, “And in what dream universe are you living in?”, but in a half-hearted, sort of joking way to keep it at a safe distance.

Either this is a dream or it’s not. Either its ALL real or none of it is. If it is a dream, than death is in fact illusory as well. Again, you can’t have it both ways… well, actually you can… because in a dream, ANYTHING is possible.

You will know when the “shift” has occurred because when the “world” is seen as a dream projection of the ONE unconscious insanely guilty (guilty for imagining it has turned its back on god, even though this is not possible) egoic Mind (without any caveats, exceptions, or “yeah buts…”), there is a lightness and ease in every moment, regardless of circumstances, regardless of what you are doing.

Even if you are sick or suffering, or in pain, there is still enough space where even that is seen as part of the dream. And the running negative commentary that most of us have in our head goes silent… because it has been replaced with a knowing silence and inner love and light that the world, the dream, can never give you.

The world is an illusion and something in you knows this. It is a mind projection stemming from a single innocent thought that asked, “What would it be like to be separate from god?” …and POOF!!, the ego was made manifest.

The reality is that it is not possible to be separate from ALL that is, god, source, etc. So, the only way to create the illusion of separation is if you believe there is an actual separate “you,” apart from god.

However, because this is so insanely painful, and you don’t want to deal directly with the pain of the lie (because if you did you’d see that everything you thought you were “working for” was for naught.), you ignore it and instead project it onto “others” around you.

The “blame it on them” game keeps the dream going. That is why forgiveness is the complete answer. If you see that you are already WHOLE and always were, guess how you are going to see me!?

This is a dream of duality, in which everything contains its opposite. A beautiful rose contains a dead rose. A beautiful new born baby girl contains an old woman on her deathbed. An apple seed contains a full grown dead apple tree… and every possible permutation in-between!

This is why THIS is a dream, an illusion…because nothing is ever exactly what it seems. Everything is in a perpetual state of becoming something, but never actually arriving! It’s writing on water…

Let the fire in your heart burn EVERYTHING away so that there is nothing left. Every thought, feeling, opinion, comment, like, dislike, etc. The whole lot. Until there is absolutely nothing left but this moment.

The mind is a “concluder.” By this I mean it “concludes” what something means. For example, a thought can arise that says, “I sent this person an email and they never responded, therefore this means they are rude, don’t like me, an asshole,” etc.

A conclusion has been reached about what something means. But why conclude? How could a conclusion from the past be of any relevance in the fresh, new NOW? Don’t I need to see what is actually happening NOW, before I can conclude what it means? And the moment I start to draw another conclusion, BAM!, too late! It’s already a fresh NOW… never-before, never-again, one and done.

To conclude is time… YOU are timeless.

-Michael Jeffreys

Two Facebook Comments:

“Maybe each conclusion represents the actualization of a potential wave in your brain–unlimited potential is turned into a result — a particle — in your assessment of reality–creating TIME. By observing this as it happens and refusing to stop at any conclusion, you remain open and timeless.” –Tom Bunzel

Michael: Nice Tom! Yes, like the brain photo above illustrates, each “conclusion” is like a little ball of light that has crystallized and become more dense and solid than the energy around it. And the more sure we are “right”, the denser and heavier the energy becomes. By not coming to any conclusions, you keep the energy light and moving, and thus don’t impede its natural and spontaneous flow. Seeking falls away naturally because without concluding anything, you are in harmony with Life’s natural flow each moment. You can either “go with the flow” or stop and conclude, but you can’t do both.

” The conclusion illusion. Self made suffering.” –Alfred Greene

Michael: Yes! Whether it’s positive or negative, any conclusion we believe into existence will eventually bring suffering.